1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to propulsion and specifically to a method of producing propellant-less thrust using mass fluctuation.
2. Prior Art
Aerospace propulsion technology to date has rested firmly on simple applications of the reaction principle: Creating motion by expelling propellant mass from a vehicle. A peculiar, overlooked relativistic effect makes it possible to induce large, transient rest mass fluctuations in electrical circuit components [Woodward, J. F. (1990), xe2x80x9cA New Experimental Approach to Mach""s Principle and Relativistic Gravitation [sic]xe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 3, 497-506; (1992), xe2x80x9cA Stationary Apparent Weight Shift from a Transient Machian Mass Fluctuationxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 5, 425-442]. An innovative implementation of this effect is to make engines that accelerate without the expulsion of any material whatsoever. This can be done because when the effect is combined with a pulsed thrust in appropriate circumstances, stationary forces can be produced [Woodward, J. F. (1992) xe2x80x9cA Stationary Apparent Weight Shift from a Transient Machian Mass Fluctuationxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 5, 425-442; (1994), xe2x80x9cMethod for Transiently Altering the Mass of Objects to Facilitate their Transport of Change their Stationary Apparent Weightsxe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,864, U.S. GPO, January 25; (1997b) xe2x80x9cMach""s Principle and Impulse Engines: Toward a Viable Physics of Star Trek?xe2x80x9d invited paper for the 1997 NASA xe2x80x9cBreakthrough Propulsion Physicsxe2x80x9d workshop at the Lewis Research Center, 12-14 August]. xe2x80x9cImpulse enginesxe2x80x9d are achieved without any moving parts (in the conventional sense). The concepts involved are supported by experimental results already in hand. It is therefore desirable to create methods of configuring components that optimize these devices and increase their practical utility.
The transient mass fluctuation effect upon which the method of this invention (and the invention of U.S. Pat. No.5,280,864) depends is predicated upon two essentially universally accepted assumptions. First, from general relativity theory: Inertial reaction forces in objects subjected to accelerations are produced by the interaction of the accelerated objects with a field (produced chiefly by the most distant matter in the universe)xe2x80x94they are not the immediate consequence of some inherent property of the object alone. And second: Any acceptable physical theory must be locally Lorentz-invariant; that is, in sufficiently small regions of space-time special relativity theory (SRT) must obtain. Using standard techniques of physical and mathematical analysis, these assumptions lead, for a particle of matter with rest mass density xcfx810 in a universe like ours (with essentially constant matter density when considered at the large scale) when accelerated by an external force, to the equation for the gravitation field potential xcfx86 in terms of its local sources:
Ñ2xcfx86xe2x88x92(1/c2)(¶2xcfx86/¶t2)=4xcfx80Gxcfx810+(xcfx86/xcfx810c2)(¶2xcfx810/¶t2)xe2x88x92(xcfx86/xcfx810c2)2(¶xcfx810/¶t)2xe2x88x92cxe2x88x924(¶xcfx86/¶t)2.
In this equation G is the Newtonian constant of universal gravitation, c is the vacuum speed of light, and xcfx810 is the local rest-mass density. Details of the derivation of this field equation can be found in Woodward, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997a and 1997b [Woodward, J. F. (1990), xe2x80x9cA New Experimental Approach to Mach""s Principle and Relativistic Graviation [sic]xe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 3 497-506; (1992), xe2x80x9cA Stationary Apparent Weight Shift from a Transient Machian Mass Fluctuationxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 5, 425-442; (1995), xe2x80x9cMaking the Universe Safe for Historians: Time Travel and the Laws of Physicsxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 8, 1-39; (1997a), xe2x80x9cTwists of Fate: Can We Make Traversable Wormholes in Spacetime?xe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 10, 153-181; (1997b), xe2x80x9cMach""s Principle and Impulse Engines: Toward a Viable Physics of Star Trek?xe2x80x9d invited paper for the 1997 NASA xe2x80x9cBreakthrough Propulsion Physicsxe2x80x9d workshop at the Lewis Research Center, 12-14 August. The equation is at least approximately valid for all relativistic theories of gravity.
In stationary circumstances, where all terms involving time derivatives vanish, the field equation above reduces to Poisson""s equation, and the solution for xcfx86 is just the sum of the contributions to the potential due to all of the matter in the causally connected part of the universe, that is, within the particle horizon. This turns out to be roughly GM/R, where M is the mass of the universe and R is about c times the age of the universe. Using reasonable values for M and R, GM/R is about c2. In the time-dependent case we must take account of the terms involving time derivatives on the right hand side of this equation. Note that these terms either are, or in some circumstances can become, negative. It is the fact that these terms can also be made very large in practicable devices with extant technology that makes them of interest for rapid spacetime transport, the chief area of application of impulse engines.
Since the predicted mass shift is transient, large effects can only be produced in very rapidly changing proper matter (or energy) densities produced by accelerating matter. From the point of view of detection of the effect, this means that the duration of any substantial effect will be so short that it cannot be measured by usual weighing techniques. If however, we drive a periodic mass fluctuation and couple it to a synchronous pulsed thrust, it is possible to produce a measurable stationary effect [Woodward, J. F. (1992), xe2x80x9cA Stationary Apparent Weight Shift from a Transient Machian Mass Fluctuationxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 5, 425-442; (1994), xe2x80x9cMethod for Transiently Altering the Mass of Objects to Facilitate their Transport of Change their Stationary Apparent Weightsxe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,864, U.S. GPO, January 25; (1996b), xe2x80x9cA Laboratory Test of Mach""s Principle and Strong-Field Relativistic Gravityxe2x80x9d Found. Phys. Lett. 9, 425-442]. Consider, for example, the generic apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in which a stationary net force is produced by generating a periodic mass fluctuation in a capacitor array (CA) and synchronously causing the length of a piezoelectric force transducer (PZT) to oscillate so that the inertial reaction force of the accelerating CA on the PZT and enclosure (E) is added to the weight of the assembly which is detected by the depression of the steel diaphragm (D) measured by the position sensor (S), all of which is located in a thick walled aluminum case ĉ mounted on a seismically isolated table. Here a mass fluctuation is produced in the CA by driving them with an AC voltage. While the mass of the CA fluctuates, the PZT causes a synchronous, oscillatory acceleration of the CA. The inertial reaction force F felt by the PZT [and the enclosure (E) in which it is mounted] will be the product of the instantaneous mass of the CA times the acceleration of the CA induced by the PZT. If the mass fluctuation and acceleration are both sinusoidal and phase-locked at the same frequency, then their product yields a phase-dependent, time-independent termxe2x80x94a stationary force.
The magnitude of this stationary force is calculated in detail in Woodward, 1992, 1994, 1996b and 1997b. If we drive an oscillation in a PZT arranged like that in FIG. 1 with amplitude xcex4|0 at a frequency of 2xcfx89, assume that the mass of the CA is small compared to that of the enclosure E so that the excursion of the PZT accelerates the CA only and allow for a phase angle xcex4 between xcex4m0 and xcex4|0, the time averaged inertial reaction force  less than F greater than =xc3xa1xcex4m(t) a(t)xc3x1 detected by the sensor S (as a change in equilibrium position due to the change in the force on the diaphragm spring D) is:
 less than F greater than =xe2x88x922xcfx892xcex410xcex4m0 cos xcex4.
xcex4m0 is the amplitude of the mass fluctuation induced when a sinusoidal voltage of angular frequency xcfx89 is applied to the capacitors. That is, the application of the voltage to the capacitors leads to an instantaneous power P=P0 sin(2xcfx89t) in the circuit, leading to a mass fluctuation:
xcex4m(t)xe2x80x94(xcfx86xcfx89P0/2xcfx80Gxcfx810c4)cos(2xcfx89t)=xcex4m0 cos(2xcfx89t)
The reality of the effect involved here and its implementation in producing stationary forces has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments [Woodward, 1996b, 1997b and below]. In this work xcex4|0 was a few angstroms (easily achieved with normal PZTs). When P0xe2x80x94250 watts, xcfx89xe2x80x948.8xc3x97104 (14 kHz), and cosxcex4xc2x11, forces on the order of tens of dynes or more were produced in the apparatus. In practice one takes the difference between runs adjusted so that cosxcex4xe2x88x921. Results obtained at 14 kHz with a device of this sort are shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 displays the averaged results obtained with a device like that is shown in FIG. 1 where a capacitor array with a total capacitance of 0.02 microfarads mounted between piezoelectric transducers that produce an excursion of several hundred Angstroms was run at a power frequency of 28 kiloHertz during the time interval 7 to 12 seconds out of the 20 second data acquisition interval, resulting in a net force of about ninety five milligrams (dynes) when the data acquired for relative phases 180 degrees apart were differenced. The traces for the averages of the two phase settings are those that show large changes in the active interval. The heavy trace is that for 0 degrees of phase and the light trace that for 180 degrees of phase. The difference of these traces is the heavy trace that roughly vertically bisects the plot. These results were obtained with the case evacuated to a pressure of less than 15 mm of Hg. At 5 seconds into a data acquisition cycle the CA is powered up. In the 7 to 12 second interval both the CA and PZT are active. And at 14 seconds the CA is switched off. Typically one to two dozen such cycles are taken in a run with the phase xcex4 switched back and forth by 180 degrees in alternating cycles of data. When the averages for the two phases are differenced, they produce the displayed differential weight shift. It is forces of the sort just described that can be used to make impulse engines.
Evidence that supports certain conclusions made herein in regard to mass fluctuations, may be found in a paper entitled xe2x80x9cMach""s Principle, Mass Fluctuations, And Rapid Spacetime Transportxe2x80x9d by the inventors hereof and presented on February 2, 2000 at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum 2000 in Albuquerque, N.M. The entire content of this paper is hereby incorporated herein by reference and forms an integral part hereof.
The simplest impulse engine consists of electrical devices in which transient mass fluctuations can be induced by suitable electrical currents (capacitors with material dielectrics or inductors with material cores) affixed to force transducer(s) that produce the synchronous pulsed thrust needed to generate stationary forces on the object to which they are attached (likely a vehicle of some sort). A more efficient design employs two devices in which mass fluctuations are driven mounted on the ends of a force transducer, as in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the principle of the method of two element impulse engines, the elements in which the periodic mass fluctuations are driven being inductive L and capacitative C elements of a resonant circuit mounted on the ends of a force transducer that expands and contracts at the frequency of the mass fluctuations yielding a net force, and thus net motion, in the indicated direction when the phase of the mass fluctuation relative to the force transducer oscillation is that shown. When the mass fluctuations in the two devices are 180 degrees out of phase, the stationary forces produced by each device are in the same direction, doubling the output of the engine. This arrangement has the added advantage that the two devices can be made the capacitative and inductive components of a resonant circuit driven by a single power supply. A resonant circuit allows one to minimize the amount of external power required to drive the electrical oscillation in the circuit (after the circuit has been initially activated) that produces the mass fluctuations. Since the phase of the power flow in the capacitative and inductive elements differs by 180 degrees, the relative phase of the mass fluctuations automatically satisfy the requirement of an impulse engine. The relative phase of the mass fluctuations and the force transducer oscillations is then adjusted to maximize the stationary force produced by the engine.
The straight-forward elaborations of U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,864 just discussed are all predicated on the supposition that transient mass fluctuations are driven with appropriate periodically varying (AC) electrical signals in discrete inductive or capacitative circuit elements. Those circuit elements are then set into motion by a separate, discrete force transducer, for example, a piezoelectric device or the equivalent driven with a separate AC electrical signal [suitably phase-locked to the power waveform of the signal driving the transient mass fluctuations in the other discrete component(s)]. The crux of the invention here disclosed is to simplify systems of this sort by using the force transducer(s) as the source of the motion needed to produce the inertial reaction force(s) that cause the net thrust, and at the same time drive the required mass fluctuation(s) in the same force transducer(s).